Ex Pervenio
by Malfoyette1989
Summary: Rabastan Lestrange leaves his daughter Cassandra with the Malfoys and is killed. Follow Cassandra through her years at Hogwarts with the next generation. Set around the time of the Epilogue. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters except maybe the ones I make up myself!_

Prologue

The hooded man appeared at the gates with a soft pop. He appeared nervous and his eyes darted continuously about him searching for some unknown threat. Apparently satisfied of his safety, the man approached the ornate gates clutching a small bundle close to his chest. Almost as if they recognised him, the gates swung inward as he approached and he walked hurriedly up the drive, glancing into the darkness around him as he walked up the long gravel drive.

Eventually, a large, sprawling manor house came into view and the man allowed himself a brief pause as a relieved look briefly crossed his face, before continuing his hurried passage to the manor's large oak door upon which he banged three times. A panel of light was cast into the darkness as the door was opened inwards by a small wrinkled house elf.

"I must see your master. Immediately." the man stated.

"Master and Mistress are asleep, sir, please return in the morning" replied the house elf.

"I must see them now" he replied quickly "wake them immediately."

The house elf appeared to fight a mental battle before stepping aside and allowing the man passage through the door.

"Posy will show sir to the parlour to wait for master" the house elf squeaked in a high pitched voice.

"There's no need, I know my way well enough" he stated without breaking his stride through the opulent hall, all the time clutching his bundle protectively to his chest.

The man reached the parlour and immediately placed his bundle gently on the sofa before resuming his quick, agitated stride around the room. Ten minutes passed before the parlour door was thrown open and a second man in a black bath robe strode into the room, his long blonde hair dishevelled from sleep.

"Lucius" The man turned to greet his host and held out his hand in greeting.

The man called Lucius didn't take the proffered arm, instead choosing to stare coolly at the man responsible for his disturbed sleep.

"You shouldn't be here Rabastan; you put us all at risk." Lucius drawled never removing his eyes from the others face.

"Lucius please" Rabastan began, a note of desperation creeping into his voice "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't desperate for your help. Please just listen to me"

Lucius smirked "even my help can't save you from Azkaban Rabastan, resourceful and sneaky as your are I'm frankly amazed you've lasted this long"

"That's why I'm here Lucius, I have ways of remaining hidden, but it's not for myself that I beg for your help." Rabastan gently lifted his bundle into his arms and unwrapped the material slightly to reveal a baby with a mass of dark curls sleeping soundly in his arms. "I cannot hide her anymore" he stated with an air of resignation.

Lucius seemed to be momentarily lost for words and simply stared at the sleeping child. "Is she yours?" he asked finally.

Rabastan simply nodded in silent response. Lucius transferred his gaze to the hooded man and after several moments seemed to reach a decision. He clicked his fingers and summoned a second house elf.

"Bring me some firewhiskey and two glasses" he ordered without removing his gaze from the other man's face.

Seconds later the house elf returned and Lucius offered a glass to Rabastan and motioned for him to take a suit on the elegant sofa.

"I think you owe me an explanation Rabastan. I haven't seen or heard from you for three years and now you turn up in my house with a child, I want answers."

Rabastan took a deep breath and a large sip from his glass.

"You know what it was like after the final battle Lucius there were aurors everywhere searching for the Dark Lord's supporters and I was scared. I couldn't return to Azkaban and I knew there was no way I would escape a charge if the Ministry got their hands on me" he gestured towards the other man "some of us don't have your luck Lucius, without Narcissa helping the Potter boy even you would be in Azkaban now. Draco too I'm sure."

Lucius smirked at this "It's true I admit Narcissa's intervention was fortunate. But Draco and I have worked hard to restore the Malfoy name Rabastan; it's not been easy I can assure you."

Rabastan's face split into a humourless smile "some of us don't possess your charm Lucius. I doubt anything I could do would make the name Lestrange respectable."

Lucius inclined his head in acknowledgement and Rabastan took this as a cue to continue.

"For a year I was in hiding amongst muggles, I was sure it was the last place anyone would look for me with my track record. Eventually I established myself in a wizarding village in Romania and I met Rayna. Her family were wealthy and I managed to get work tending their gardens to avoid unwanted attention. She and I fell in love and married secretly. Her parents didn't react well when they found out; after all to them I was nothing but a lowly gardener with nothing to offer Rayna. But by then Rayna was pregnant with my child, and rather than cause a scandal they grudgingly accepted our marriage and for the first time since before I went to Azkaban life was normal. I should've know it wouldn't last long; Rayna's father somehow found out who I really was and wanted nothing to do with me."

Rabastan paused to take another large sip of his whiskey and with a grimace continued his tale.

"It was worse than that actually, not only did he want nothing to do with me, he informed the ministry of my whereabouts. Rayna was in her ninth month and I wanted her to stay with her family and our child, but she was stubborn was my Rayna" a real smile graced Rabastan's face "and insisted that we left together. We narrowly escaped the aurors and were forced to move around constantly for weeks to avoid being caught."

At this point Rabastan appeared to falter in his resolve to continue and took several deep breaths.

"Then she…Rayna she…I didn't…" he stammered for a moment before managing to continue "Rayna collapsed one night and I didn't know what to do. She was bleeding heavily and I could do nothing for her…and she…she…" at this point Rabastan's voice faltered entirely and he lowered his head to gaze at the baby which had begun to stir in his arms and started to rock her gently.

After a few minutes Rabastan appeared to find some inner resolve; "I managed to save our daughter but I couldn't help Rayna, she died three weeks ago. But I was determined I would protect our baby…she's all I have left of my Rayna." He stated forcefully and then almost whispered to himself "I won't fail her again."

Lucius appeared to consider his next words carefully.

"I'm assuming the reason you're here is that you've found being on the run is not easy with a new baby to think about?"

"We've nearly been caught twice this week alone. I can't protect her properly and I'm scared next time we won't be so lucky Lucius, you know the hard line tactics the aurors use these days, some of the spells they use are worse than any unforgivable and what if next time it's not me the spell is directed at?"

At this point the baby began to cry in earnest and Rabastan stood making soothing noises and rocking the child until she quietened.

"What have you named her?"

"Cassandra Rayna Esfir Lestrange" Rabastan answered in a soft voice never lifting his eyes from the baby in his arms.

"Rabastan, sympathetic as I may be to your plight there must be someone else who…"

"Lucius there is _no one _else, you're it."

"Surely the child's grandparents…"

"Made it clear they wish to have nothing to do with the child" Rabastan interrupted again.

Lucius sighed "you must understand my position. How could I possibly explain the presence of a wanted death eater's child in my care? I will be accused of helping you and I won't escape this time."

"Lucius I beg you please just…"

"I have more than just myself to think about" Lucius cut across him loudly "Draco's wife has recently given birth to a son, that child deserves to command the respect every Malfoy should, you ask me to risk everything."

"It's not forever, only until the aurors lose my trail again and I then I can look after her properly."

"But how do you expect me to explain her presence? People will be suspicious Rabastan."

"I don't know, tell them she was abandoned on your doorstep or something…anything, you're the charming one Lucius not me."

Lucius stared at the other man for a while. He cast his eyes over the bedraggled hair, dirty cloak and prominent dark circles under his eyes, all in all he was a mess.

"I still can't believe you came here tonight Rabastan…"

"Lucius I'm desperate I…"

"But Cassandra can stay here for now."

"Thank you Lucius, I won't forget this" Rabastan stated in a voice heavy with relief, his shoulders relaxing for the first time since he entered the room.

"But make no mistake, if she endangers my family in any way she can't stay, but otherwise she will remain safe, I promise you that."

Lucius clicked his fingers once more and a house elf again appeared. "Posy take Cassandra to the nursery and put her to sleep. You will attend to all her needs tonight."

Before placing the baby in Posy's outstretched arms, Rabastan kissed her gently on the temple and whispered "goodbye my princess. I'll come back I promise."

As the elf disappeared out of the door, Rabastan's eyes never once left her retreating form. Eventually he turned to Lucius.

"Thank you my friend. I'll leave you now; my presence alone is a danger to you."

The two men shook hands and without another word Rabastan strode out of the door, his black cloak billowing in his wake. Lucius watched his exit, silently wondering whether he would ever return.

_Two days later…_

In the large dining hall at Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy opened his copy of the Daily Prophet and let out a loud gasp. The front page was entirely occupied by a large banner headline and picture stating "Wanted Death Eater Rabastan Lestrange Killed in Auror Battle". He looked across the table to where Cassandra Lestrange was currently sat on his wife's lap being fed her breakfast and giggling.

"Well my girl, what is to become of you now?" Lucius thought out loud, although he was sure he already knew the answer.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters except maybe the ones I make up myself!_

Cassandra Lestrange ran down the long hallway of Malfoy Manor, skidded at the end and dived down the wide staircase. She was late and silently cursed the book in her hand that was the reason for her lateness. It wasn't like Cassandra was usually on time, in fact she was always late, it was just today of all days she needed to be on time.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late" she mumbled to herself as she skipped down the stairs two at a time.

At the bottom of the stairs, Cassandra skidded to an abrupt halt in front of a large gold edged mirror on the wall and silently appraised the image looking back at her. Her dark, almost black, hair fell in shiny ringlets down her back but gave the impression that it hadn't been brushed that morning, her large blue eyes were slightly bloodshot from staring at her book all morning, and her cheeks were flushed from running through the Manor.

"Oh don't you look lovely" the mirror sarcastically remarked.

"Shut up" Cassandra remarked distractedly as she attempted to comb her fingers through her hair and smooth the creased lines of her cloak, which until a couple of minutes ago had been in a scrumpled heap on her bedroom floor.

It wasn't that Cassandra particularly cared how she looked- in fact she thought to herself Narcissa usually made a fuss about nothing- she just couldn't bear the inevitable tide of remarks Narcissa would make if she turned up looking like she'd just been pulled through a hedge backwards…again.

Satisfied that her appearance was not going to get any better, Cassandra hurried through the hall and reached the entrance hall. Predictably she was last…and she was late.

"Where on earth have you been?" Narcissa Malfoy half shouted as she hurried across the entrance hall to meet Cassandra "and what happened to your clothes…and your hair? You can't possibly stand on platform 9 ¾ looking like that- people will think we're neglecting you!" Narcissa's tidal wave of reprimands continued as she circled Cassandra with her wand tidying Cassandra's hair and straightening her cloak. Cassandra could never quite measure up to Narcissa's impeccable personal standards; the woman was always so impossibly tidy- how could a person look so perfect all of the time?

Cassandra chanced a glance at Lucius, who was stood a couple of feet away from the scene, an amused smirk on his face. When she caught his eye he winked in response to her resigned face, and Cassandra was silently relieved, at least he wasn't mad with her too! Across the hall, her brother Scorpius was also receiving the traditional Malfoy women's telling-off from his mother Astoria, apparently he'd forgotten to pack his socks and two small house elves were hastily packing these in his trunk. His father, Draco, was stood observing the scene a bemused look on his face.

When both Narcissa and Astoria both seemed satisfied that everything was as it should be the party was ready to leave. Lucius approached Cassandra and pointed to the book still held in her hand:

"It was a good choice then Cassie? I'm assuming that's what made you late?"

Cassandra grinned back at him; the book had been a going-away present from Lucius: "I love it! I'd still be reading now if Posy hadn't told me you were all waiting."

Lucius chuckled "well I've always had impeccable taste, even if I do say so myself!"

He was right Cassie thought- it was Lucius' fondness of reading that had caused her own love of books- in fact he had taught her to read himself.

"Lucius! Please hurry up or the train will be gone and you'll still be stood there!" Narcissa admonished from her position by the fireplace.

"Calm down Narcissa, it can't possibly leave without the Malfoys" Lucius called back.

But quietly to Cassie "we really should hurry though, there won't be any reasoning with her if we miss that train."

As Scorpius disappeared in a flash of green flames, flanked by his parents and followed by Narcissa, Cassie found her feet didn't want to follow them. Her feet remained glued to the floor, even as Lucius took her hand and pulled her towards the fireplace.

"What if everyone hates me?" she blurted out suddenly "what if everyone thinks I'm just like the rest of my family and they all hate me?" This niggling fear had attached itself to Cassie and wouldn't let go- she'd managed to put it to the back of her mind but now the time had come to leave her safe haven the fear paralysed her.

"How could anyone hate you Princess?" Lucius crouched down in front of her and took her hand in his. "No one is going to hate you- you're beautiful and clever- people will be queuing up to be your friend. Anyway, no one will dare upset you, remember you're a Malfoy and a Lestrange!"

Although his words did something to dispel her fears, her stomach was still in knots. After her father was killed fighting aurors, the Malfoys had brought her up as one of their own- Draco and Astoria had even adopted her into their family. But it was Lucius who had really loved her as his own daughter and made her feel safe and it was the thought of leaving the safety of his care that made her most frightened. Cassie was no fool- feelings were still strong against the families of the former death eaters and she didn't know how other children would react to her.

Taking a huge breath in; Cassie repeated Lucius' words in her head 'you are a Malfoy and a Lestrange, a Malfoy and a Lestrange..' and determinedly walked towards the fireplace. Lucius squeezed her hand and stepped into the flames shouting "Platform 9 ¾."

A whirl of flames later and still gripping tightly to Lucius' arm with one hand and holding her book in the other, Cassie emerged onto Platform 9 ¾, where a huge steam train stood waiting at the platform. The steam billowing from the train signalled that its departure was imminent- and most of the other students were already on board the train.

"Finally! I thought you were going to miss the train!" Narcissa said whilst simultaneously pulling Cassie into her strong embrace. Astoria and Draco each kissed her on the cheek before Lucius pulled her into his arms.

"Remember Cass, you are anything but ordinary, you're special and never forget that" he whispered in her ear.

As he released her, Narcissa bundled her on board the train behind Scorpius saying "hurry! You're trunk is already on board!" Almost as soon as Cassie had climbed on board the doors closed behind her and the train began to move. She waved silently out the window, until the figures on the platform had disappeared from sight.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters except maybe the ones I make up myself!_

"Come on Cass, lets find a compartment before they're all taken" Scorpius said whilst hustling her in the direction of the nearest compartments and Cassie was silently thankful for his solid, reassuring presence. She and Scorpius were actually very close- mainly due to the fact that they had grown up together and neither had any other siblings to play with when they were younger. Cassie normally referred to Scorpius as her brother- because that's basically what he was to her. And lets face it, Cassie thought, its not like I have any other family to look out for me.

The first few compartments Cassie and Scorpius looked in were full of older students, whose glares told them in no uncertain terms that they would not be welcomed into those compartments. Eventually, Cassie spotted a compartment only containing three other students and Cassie was sure from looking at them that they must be first years. With a quick glance at Scorpius , who simply shrugged in response, which Cassie took to be an agreement, she stepped into the compartment.

"Hello! Do you mind if we sit here?" Cassie said in a bright confident voice which she hoped disguised how nervous she felt inside.

A girl with bushy hair and freckles, who was already wearing her new Hogwart's robes responded brightly: "Of course! I'm Rose Weasley who are you?"

"I'm Cassie and this is Scorpius" Cassie gestured at Scorpius who had entered the compartment behind her, and gratefully sank into the seat next to Rose.

"These two are Louis Weasley and Albus Potter" Rose continued pointing at the two boys sat on the seat opposite. Cassie nodded and smiled in greeting, but then attempted to stare at the floor, her face growing warm as she inwardly cursed her own stupidity. Of all the compartments, how had she managed to end up sharing with Weasleys and Potters- if anyone would instantly dislike her because of her parents they would! A quick glance at Scorpius showed Cassie that he to had realised their mistake- and Cassie inwardly debated whether she would rather face a journey with the hostile students next door. Cassie was just grateful that she'd avoided saying their full names…for now at least!

Cassie tried to unobtrusively observe the boys sat across from her- the boy called Louis had silvery blonde hair and handsome features and Cassie thought that when he stood he would be tall for his age. In contrast, the other boy, Albus, had messy dark hair and unusual green eyes and was probably no taller than she was.

"err sorry…what did you say" Cassie said as she suddenly realised Rose had been talking to her.

"I said which house do you think you'll be in? I'm hoping for Gryffindor myself- my mum and dad were both in Gryffindor so I think I should be ok" Rose said eagerly "but Ravenclaw wouldn't be _too _bad I suppose" she added as an afterthought.

"Well I don't really mind to much as long as it's not Hufflepuff" Cassie responded cautiously.

"Not Slytherin though" Louis said with a challenging look at Cassie and Scorpius "unless of course you're one of them?"

"So what if I am? I hope I _am _put in Slytherin so I can stay away from smug gits like you" said Scorpius hotly, he'd clearly taken the Slytherin comments personally. Cassie sighed inwardly; so much for keeping their family a secret!

"You want to say that again snake boy" Louis shouted jumping to his feet and pulling out his wand and Cassie noticed that he was indeed tall for his age.

"What're you going to do with that- poke me in the eye?" Scorpius smirked as he to jumped to his feet.

Just as Cassie stood up to come between the pair before the situation got any worse, Albus said in a quiet but assured voice: "my dad told me that there are good and brave people in Slytherin and he doesn't care which house I get sorted into" and in a stronger voice "sit down Louis, we're not even at Hogwarts and you're already causing trouble."

Louis seemed to fight some kind of inner battle before dropping back to his seat and glaring at Scorpius, who did the same.

"Anyway, if you carry on we'll all get detention before we even get there" Rose chimed in, with a voice clearly showing what she thought of that idea.

"What are your full names anyway?" Albus questioned and Cassie felt heat suddenly rush into her face and her heartbeat quickened in her chest.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy and she's Cassie Malfoy-Lestrange" Scorpius said fiercely as if challenging anyone to find fault with his name.

"Is your father Draco Malfoy?" Albus asked

"Yeah" Scorpius replied still glaring at anyone who dared to look his way.

"Narcissa Malfoy must be your Grandma then right?"

"Yeah she is but she'd go nuts if she heard you call her grandma" Scorpius said with a passable attempt at a smile.

"She helped my dad in the final battle, dad always says if it wasn't for her he'd never have beaten Voldemort" Albus said and held his hand out to shake hands with Scorpius.

After a surprised Scorpius shook hands with Albus, the atmosphere in the compartment became much warmer and the conversation moved on to more important topics such as Quidditch. Louis refused to join in at first, but even he couldn't resist jumping in to defend the Chudley Cannons from Scorpius' scathing assessment.

Cassie loved Quidditch and was used to playing with Scorpius at the Manor, but was to involved in discussing the book Lucius had bought for her with Rose, who it turned out was desperate to read the book, to join in the discussion about Quidditch.

All too soon the journey was over and the Cassie was ushered off the train by Rose, who was sure they'd be late unless they virtually ran along the platform. Cassie found herself ushered into a small boat by a giant, who Rose informed her was called Hagrid and who greeted Albus by clapping him on the back and knocking him to his knees. The boat ride over the lake passed in a blur, punctuated by Rose repeating hundreds of facts about the castle she had read in _Hogwarts a History, _and Scorpius still arguing with Louis about Quidditch,and Cassie found herself stood in the great hall in a line of first years waiting to be sorted.

Professor Longbottom ("He's friend's with my mum and dad" Rose quickly informed Cassie) placed the battered old sorting hat on a stool at the front of the hall. As the sorting hat struck up its traditional pre-sorting song, Cassie found her mind wondering to her impending sorting; which house would she choose? Cassie had always assumed that she would automatically choose Slytherin- as Scorpius always said every Lestrange and Malfoy for generations had been sorted into Slytherin- but Cassie found she really had been honest on the train, she didn't really mind.

Cassie joined in the enthusiastic applause as the sorting hat finished its song even though she hadn't listened to a word. Professor Longbottom now stepped forward and unrolled a large roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted" he said "Anderson, George"

A tall, gangly boy with mousy, brown hair hurried to the stool sat down and put the hat on his head. After a few seconds the hat shouted "RAVENCLAW" and the table in the middle of the hall erupted in cheers, as the boy sat down at the table.

After what seemed like an eternity, Professor Longbottom called: "Malfoy, Scorpius" and Scorpius walked confidently to the stool and placed the hat on his head. Cassie noticed that the hat took much longer deciding where to place Scorpius, than the majority of others. After around a minute the hat screamed "SLYTHERIN" and Scorpius walked to the cheering table Cassie's left a huge grin plastered on his face. Cassie was so busy watching Scorpius receive the applause of his new housemates; she forgot that the next name to be called was…

"Malfoy-Lestrange, Cassandra"

Forcing herself to appear confident, Cassie strode to the stool and quickly placed the hat on her head. For a while, Cassie thought the hat's silence meant it was broken but then:

"_well…well…well…you're an interesting one…hmmm…different or potentially special some might say…but where do you belong…I think it ought to be _GRYFFINDOR!"

Cassie rose from the stool, inside she was shocked to the core, but outside, she set her face and walked quickly to the Gryffindor table. She realised that in addition to the usual applause, the hall was alive with whispers and hushed conversations and although she did her best to ignore these whispered conversations, Cassie could still see people craning their necks to stare at her.

At the Gryffindor table a boy who looked exactly like an older version of Albus was doing a victory dance with a red headed, freckled boy; as she sat down, Albus' double, who Cassie assumed was brother, flashed a dazzling smile in her direction. Blushing, but secretly pleased, Cassie sat down and turned to watch the rest of the sorting.

"Potter, Albus" was soon called by Professor Longbottom. A quick glance up the table and Cassie saw the other Potter watching his brother intently, presumably readying another victory dance. As Albus approached the stool, the hall was again alive with whispers but this time people were excitedly saying 'Harry Potter's son', 'this is pointless he's obviously a Gryffindor.'

The whispers were cut short, when after very little time on his head, the hat screamed "SLYTHERIN" and were replaced by a stunned silence. Professor Longbottom and several other members of staff started clapping to relieve the tension, as Albus made his way to the Slytherin table, and gradually people followed their lead. Cassie could tell that Albus was trying to appear unconcerned but also that his hands shook as he took his seat next to Scorpius.

"Err…yes ermm Price, Mandy" Professor Longbottom continued.

But no one in the hall was watching, all eyes were firmly on Albus, who had now struck up a conversation with Scorpius to avoid listening to the whispers around him. Cassie again chanced a glance at Albus' brother, who was sat in stunned silence on Cassie's table, but a faint blush creeping on his face gave away his reaction to the news.

The rest of the sorting continued, until the last two students (Rose and Louis) were both sorted into Gryffindor. Rose took her seat next to Cassie, whilst Louis confidently sat beside Albus' brother; who was now proclaiming for all to hear that at least some members of his family had their loyalties in the right place.

Rose gestured at Albus' brother and remarked "James and Albus are always fighting; I bet James is secretly pleased Albus is in Slytherin, he's got more excuse now!"

So Albus' brother was called James, Cassie mused to herself, and once more found herself looking at the boy as he, clearly recovered from the sorting, recounted a tale in animated form for his friends. Cassie was brought out of her musings by Rose tapping her arm and she realised the girl had asked her a question:

"Sorry Rose what was that?"

"I _said _do you think the sorting hat was right to put Albus in Slytherin?"

Cassie considered the question a moment, as it was exactly what she had been thinking herself, particularly as she glanced around and noticed the majority of Gryffindor girls still eyed her suspiciously.

"I hope so" Cassie replied quietly, not really sure who she was talking about.

_Please read and review!!! Hope you enjoyed it- now Cassie is actually at Hogwarts, the next chapter will be about her 5__th__ year (skipping all the stuff in between!)_


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